My eVent shell mitts work well over my fleece gloves but with enough cold rain and wet brush the inner gloves eventually get damp and cold—resulting in cold hands. When getting to camp these shells need to be pulled off to do intricate shelter set-up and other chores thereby Oops further wetting the gloves.

To keep the fleece gloves dry at all costs when doing this work you can pull them off and go barehanded for as long as it takes to get the tent up fast—and btw, wearing shell mitts over your gloves will slow you down during the rodeo ride to get the shelter up. So in effect they become an impediment to quick shelter setup. Mittens are always bad for detailed finger work etc. And fleece gloves soak up water like a sponge.

But a butt cold rainy day is just one day of a trip and just a fraction of that trip—the next four days could be clear and dry. When it’s really cold and dry is when I really need my gloves for hand warmth, not so critical in a 35F rain. In other words, cold numb hands are on occasion just part of the mix and just part of winter backpacking in the mountains of NC and TN. When I wake up to 0F, that’s when I really need my dry gloves or down mittens.

And of course we all take two pairs of gloves on a winter trip—one pair to stay dry at all costs. I even take a pair of waterproof Nilas down mittens for tough conditions.

I’ve tried pulling a tent down in sub-zero snow conditions without gloves, and basically pretty much failed. I got half-way through and the pain was too much. Rather awkward as it meant we could not move fast. But with gloves (ie fingers) and a WP shell mitt – no problem. Cold hands, sure, but quite functional. Both the tent and the snow stakes were designed to be handled with mitts.

One feature I look for in fleece gloves is the total absence of leather palm patches or plastic grippy coatings or any material other than actual fleece and thread and a bit of elastic at the cuffs, and maybe wrists.

These embellishments that are supposed to help with grip also trap moisture and are loath to let it go, especially leather and the faux leather stuff. Straight-up fleece is getting harder and harder to find, but last year somebody pointed me to some plain-Jane fleece gloves still sold by Marmot and I bought a couple of pairs of them since my other ones are getting quite old. Recently I found these on Amazon and would give them a try if I didn’t already have the Marmots.

And gloves made with ‘windstopper’ fleece? Forget about it — in seriously cold weather they trap moisture and it stays there for days.

Bob, you bring up the point of fleece gloves. I think I posted this pic here before but it shows you can find good winter gloves at walmart for $7 and forego the overpriced North Face type liner gloves—which get wear holes after one trip.

The walmart gloves on the left, the $30 north face on the right. I consider both to be “fleece gloves”—

A good point overall. First we had the very expensive Malden Mills fleece jackets, then later on we had the ‘Walmart-class’ Chinese fleece jackets at a fraction of the price. Initially not as good, but the Chinese learn fast, and have the volume. Many walkers found that the Chinese stuff, after a learning curve by the Chinese, was just as good but much cheaper.

So finding good fleece gloves at Walmart is to be expected. They will be of a simple design of course, while the up-market brands go for all sorts of fancy frills in an attempt to stay ahead. Pity what the user wants is ‘simple’.

Good point Roger, although I do like my outrageous Arcteryx Delta fleece jacket as part of my winter layering system. Polartec 300!!

But gloves are in a different category as I consider gloves to be disposable items and easily replaced due to holes and wear (like Smartwool socks). After spending about $90 for three pairs of NF gloves (as above), and each dying in their own way during successive trips—I discovered the answer in those cheap walmart gloves. And they work fine under my MLD eVent shells.